Iqbol's Group

Iqbol, the leader of this group, comes from the rural town of Kant. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the industrial factories stopped working, and there was little opportunity to work for the government. Alert people switched to commerce. They started to trade in various goods or opened their own businesses. Lots of people have gone abroad in search of work. Iqbol has been lucky, since she and her husband stayed in the city. They have been able to make their living in Kant.

Her husband is a builder. They are raising five children. The eldest daughter is thirteen, and the smallest son is just a year and half. Iqbol inherited a trade from her parents, making flat cakes. She invested $23 and started selling flat cakes at home. It has been six years since she started, and now she has a net profit of $95 a month.

Iqbol’s elder daughter helps her look after the little kids and also helps her knead dough. Her husband helps her buy and transport flour. Sometimes her children stay outside with Iqbol and help her sell the flat cakes.

Currently, Iqbol needs a loan to purchase three sacks of flour, salt and yeast for baking flat cakes. She has big plans for expanding her business and helping her children get an education and get on their feet.

Iqbol’s group partners:

Zebiniso, 38, is a builder’s wife. She has six children. Zebiniso and her husband have recently collected beet crops. They also keep hens and sell eggs. They need a loan to buy a cow, so that they do not have to buy milk for their children.

Mukimjon, 48, trades in vegetables: potatoes, beets and radishes. He has three children. Mukimjon hopes to provide them with a good education and wants his daughters to marry. Mukimjon needs a loan to invest in purchasing vegetables wholesale.

Salomat, 43, has four children. Her husband works as a builder. Salomat bakes and sells flat cakes. She hopes to obtain a loan to buy several sacks of flour.

--- Where Did This Loan Come From? ---

This loan is brought to you by Mol Bulak Finance, a young and ambitious socially-focused MFI in Kyrgyzstan.

Mol Bulak Finance is strongly committed to the principles of sustainable development on the basis of the 3-Ps concept - People (building human capital and taking care of its customers and the society as well), Profit (to be profitable to grow further) and the Planet (taking care of the environment). It is also the only MFI in Kyrgyzstan that delivers its services to customers 365 days a year. To learn more about Mol Bulak and view a video presentation about the organization, please visit: http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=135

If you would like to support and learn more about Kyrgyzstan and micro-finance in Central Asia, please join our Lending Team - Supporters of Kyrgyzstan - at http://kiva.org/team/kyrgyzstan. Members will get special updates and news from the Kiva Fellows in Kyrgyzstan and the Mol Bulak staff.

Additional Information

This is a Group Loan

In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.